Report Assignment/Assessment Checklist
This check list can be used to check for some of the most common errors found in reports.
This list is not definitive; it is a guide only to help you check through your work before you hand in your assignment. If you have any questions before your assignment is due you should check with your lecturer. Learning Development is another University of Wollongong resource that you can also use if you are unsure or something or require clarification.
In the end you are responsible for the work you submit and the work you submit will be graded accordingly.
The assignment checklist covers the following areas:
€¢ Assignment in General
€¢ Formatting
€¢ General
€¢ Paragraphs
€¢ Quotes
€¢ References
€¢ Reports
€¢ Tables and Graphs
€¢ Turnitin
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You should add to this checklist as you discover things that you may have missed from your own observations, or based on feedback from assignments. This will help to continually improve your own writing and presentation skills.
Assignment in General
€¢ Have you answered all areas of the question/s asked?
For example: if you are asked for recommendations have you made some? If you are asked for a decision did you make one? Have you justified your position? If you were asked to critically analyse did you do this?
€¢ Have you clearly indicated which question you are answering where there is a choice of topics?
€¢ Have you checked your feedback from your last assignment and corrected all of the areas that were marked for attention?
€¢ Have you fully completed a Sydney Business School Essay/Assignment Cover Sheet including signing the declaration that the assignment is all your own work? A copy of the Assignment Cover Sheet is available in the folder.
€¢ Have you included any supporting information requested as part of the assignment submission? (for example: research tables, annotated bibliographies, Turnitin reports)
€¢ Have you kept a copy of your assignment?
€¢ Have you kept an electronic backup copy of your work?
Formatting
€¢ Have you used the same font typeface throughout? (CTRL A will select the whole document. Select a font name and this will apply that font to the whole assignment retaining any other formatting)
€¢ Are your font sizes consistent throughout the document, including a larger bold font for headings?
€¢ Do you have page numbers on the footer of every page?
€¢ Are your capital letters in the correct place? (for example: capital letters are only required for the start of formal names, do not apply to any word in the middle of a sentence unless it belongs to a formal name/proper noun such the name of something like a country or company)
Paragraphs
€¢ Have you used paragraphs? (a good check is to see if all pages have at least 2-3 paragraphs. If not you should revise your work to ensure that like ideas are grouped together)
€¢ If you have a full page with only one paragraph, and you are over the word limit €“ long paragraphs are a good place to start editing.
€¢ Where you have used paragraphs and they are not obvious due to the alignment of wording, put in an extra space between the paragraphs to highlight that you have used them. (either using another Enter or through Paragraph settings and adjusting the After spacing.)
Quotes
€¢ Where you have used a direct quote is it in inverted ( ) commas immediately followed by the reference source? A direct quote is where the words are shown in your assignment exactly the way the words appear in the reference source.
€¢ Only quotes contained in inverted ( ) commas can be excluded from Turnitin checks. Quotes that are shown in apostrophes ( )will be marked as non-original material.
€¢ Are your quotes in italic font? (this is a way of highlighting direct quotes) Use the italic button on the tool bar or highlight the words you want to put in italics and hit Ctrl I.
€¢ Have you referenced the source of the direct quote/quote including the authors’ name/s, the year and the exact page number where the quote comes from?
€¢ Have you used too many quotes? Too many quotes, or where quotes are too long indicates that it is more of someone else’s work rather than yours. If your quote is too long, you should put the quote into your own words. There is no exact rule, however as a guide, quotes should form no more than 10% of your word limit €“ at an absolute maximum 10%

References:
€¢ Does your depth of research at least meet the minimum criteria where one is specified? Use the marking guidelines to check on this where one is provided in class or on eLearning €“ it will usually indicate that the majority of quotes should be from Academic Journal Articles (using the library databases such as Sage, Proquest, Web of Science).
€¢ If you are unsure of the depth of research required have you checked with your lecturer and/or tutor?
€¢ Even if you have a long list of references, have you used them all and used them effectively in your assignment citing authors within the majority of paragraphs, and using a variety of authors to identify your depth of research?
€¢ When using journal articles for references €“ are they true journal articles, or are they magazine articles that are available via the journal database? (a good quick check is that a true academic journal articles will have a larger number of pages 10+ and include a reference list, whereas an article will be 1-2 pages and will not have a reference list)
€¢ Are your references in alphabetical order (A through to Z) by the first author’s last name? If you are not sure which is the author’s last name, check on the library catalogue or database or ask a librarian or Learning Development lecturer for help in recognising which is the last name (also called surname or family name).
€¢ Be careful when exporting referencing formats from databases like Proquest €“ as they can have errors where the first names and last names of authors are swapped. You are responsible for ensuring that the author’s names are correctly displayed.
€¢ Do your references start on a page by themselves? (after your conclusion)
€¢ Are your references complete and in Harvard formatting? If references are incomplete or incorrect they cannot be excluded on Turnitin submissions. If some, part, or all of your references are highlighted by Turnitin, you need to review the formatting and resubmit.
€¢ Have you used the right type of Harvard formatting for each reference type? (for example: book, journal article, web) Check your reference formats against the list available at www.library.uow.edu.au Referencing and Citing
€¢ Have you used the correct type of in text referencing (referencing within the body of your assignment) for example the author’s initials are not required with in text referencing.
Reports:
€¢ Are all your sections clearly marked with consistent numbering?
€¢ Are your sections in the order you have written about them in the introduction?
€¢ Have you provided all sections required in the report €“ for example Executive Summary, Table of Contents, Introduction, Sections, Recommendations, Conclusion, References. If in doubt, check with your Lecturer.
€¢ Are your Recommendations before your Conclusion?
€¢ Have you updated your Table of Contents page numbers after checking all things? (right click on the Table of Contents, then Update)
Tables and Graphs
€¢ Where you have included a Table or a Graph are they labelled with a title and a reference?
For example: Table 1 Details of Top Performing Companies
€¢ Where a table or graph has been reproduced from a journal article is it properly referenced both in text and in your Reference list?
Turnitin
€¢ Have you followed the Turnitin guidelines? For example: Used only one sign in name, Use one document name only that includes your UOW student number.
€¢ Not included the assignment topic question at the beginning of your submission
€¢ Used the latest originality report that matches your final Turnitin submission?
€¢ Corrected reference formatting and quote formatting errors picked up when you use the exclude€ functions for quotes and bibliography (references).
€¢ Revised any sections identified as close paraphrasing to ensure that work is presented in your own words. If in doubt refer to: http://www.uow.edu.au/student/services/ld/students/UOW021315.html
€¢ Restate material that is identified as being someone else’s work.
€¢ Revised and updated your work to reduce your individual matches to be zero, or no more than 2% for an individual match?
Word Limits:
€¢ Are you near the word limit for the assessment, or within the boundaries agreed with the lecturer? (for example: must be within 100 words, 200 words or plus or minus 10% of the assignment word limit). If you are unsure have you checked with your lecturer what the acceptable boundaries are?
€¢ If you don’t have enough words Have you addressed all the parts of the question in sufficient depth?
€¢ Have you also checked that all of the joining words are there? (for example€¦and, the, of€¦.). If you are in doubt what words are needed, read your assignment out loud €“ this can highlight where joining words are required.
€¢ If you have too many words have you edited your work? Editing makes your arguments and explanations stronger as you remove unnecessary extra words.

Writing
€¢ Have you checked to make sure words are spelt correctly, but where it may not be the right word? for example:
Table 1 Some Common Errors
Word Included in Assignment Word should have been€¦€¦.
fell feel
manger manager
form from
surly surely
tread treat
course cause
surfer suffer
pest past
produce product
own owe
rang range
employment employee
subsidies subsidiaries
fourth forth
resource recourse
cleanly clearly
cooperation corporation
marching matching
terms teams
tow two
these are only some examples there are many more

€¢ Word mistakes like those shown in Table 1 (above) will not be picked up on the spell checker. Instead you can find them easily by using the Find/Replace function in word €“ put in the word you want to check for, and replace those that are incorrect. If you receive feedback from an assignment where you have used words in error €“ make your own list and add them in to help with future checks.
€¢ Have you used joining words where they are required? (eg €¦and, the, of€¦.)
€¢ The word staff should never have an s€ added at the end €“ the word staff is a plural word. If you are talking about an individual it should be a staff member i.e. a member of the staff
€¢ If you are unsure of the meaning of a word have you highlighted the word and right clicked it and checked against Look Up, Synonyms, or Translations?
€¢ Have you checked to make sure you have no sentences that begin with And€ or But€? (if you have then either change it, or see if the sentence works without it as many times it is unnecessary)
€¢ Simple words are better to use than larger words when you are unsure or not confident of their meaning. Using longer academic words in the wrong context can change the meaning of your argument and cause the argument to fail.